Westpac Consumer Confidence – Australia

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Officially called the Consumer Sentiment Index, this figure measures the level of consumer confidence and is an average of five indexes measuring different aspects of consumer fiscal health. This is one of the few indicators that are entirely expectation based. Households report their views on current buying conditions for household items and where they feel are the “wisest” places to invest savings. Views on future political policy (taxes, politicians, government) and economic conditions (wages, inflation, unemployment) are also surveyed.

Confidence figures are often leading indicators for the consumer spending and the economy as a whole. The headline figure is percentage change in the index value from that of the previous month.